Michael Sgouros has served as music director and composer for the Off Broadway shows Percussion People, The Selfish Giant, Treasure Island, Stone Soup, A Christmas Carol, Cinderella, Phantom of the Opera (Sgouros and Bell), The Little Mermaid, Alice In Wonderland, Tico Tales, Sleepy Hollow, Frankenstein and Beauty and the Beast. A native New Yorker, Michael has enjoyed performing as drummer/percussionist in a variety of musical settings which have included the American Symphony, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Ethos Percussion Group, Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus and the Broadway productions of The Secret Garden, Falsettos, The Goodbye Girl, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera. Michael is proud to endorser of Innovative Percussion, Grover Pro Percussion and Yamaha Music.
Grace Sprecher is an NYC-based freelance percussionist pursuing her Masters degree in percussion performance at New York University. Most notably, she has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, as well as Off-Broadway at The Players Theatre. She has also performed at Carnegie Hall with the Grammy-winning New York Youth Symphony, as well as at the at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention with Valerie Naranjo, a pioneer in West African percussion. She aims to explore as many avenues of music and performance as possible, seeking to push the boundaries of percussion and collaborate across a variety of genres.
Michael Sgouros - artistic director
Chris Natale
Natalie North
Tim Schneider
Grace Sprecher
Based in NYC, Natalie North is an in-demand freelance percussionist. Most recently, she held the timpani/percussion chair for The Little Mermaid and A Christmas Carol Off-Broadway at The Players Theatre. She has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center and ISO Third Street at Carnegie Hall. A touring musician, Natalie has performed internationally all across Europe, Japan, and mainland China. Nationally, Natalie has subbed the percussion book on Liongate’s Twilight in Concert tour. In addition to performing, Natalie is a teaching artist with the Brooklyn Steppers—a non profit that brings drum line programs to public schools in all five boroughs. Website: natalienorthmusic.com
Past Concerts
Originally from New Jersey, Tim Schneider has been playing drums and percussion since the age of 10. Most recently in 2024, he has been touring with Mannheim Steamroller and the Indie band Flycatcher. He has also performed on Off-Broadway at venues such as the Players Theatre playing percussion, and plays frequently in cabarets in NYC, most notably 54 Below. In addition, he has held fellowships at the National Orchestral Institute from 2020-2021 and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in 2018. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from New York University and has studied with Jason Haaheim, Jonathan Haas, and Eriko Daimo. Outside of music, Tim enjoys hiking and playing tennis.
Valerie Naranjo has been the percussionist in the NBC SNL Band for 30 years. She caused a chiefly edict allowing women to play gyil (African marimba) in public for the first time, and was awarded a "first prize" in the Ghanaian Kobine Festival in 1996. She was Drum! Magazine's "World Music Percussionist of the Year" 2005 & 2008, and "Mallet Player of the Year" 2012, and was inducted into The Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2021. Valerie has performed on 6 continents, including recent residencies at The PAS International Percussion Festivals in Beijing and Buenos Aires, and has taught at NYU since 2011. She published, with Kakraba Lobi, the CDs and written series' "West African Music for the Marimba Soloist", “Joro” for gyil and orchestra, and “Pure Land" for gyil and Wind Ensemble” and has released 10 CDs.
Christopher Natale is a freelance percussionist based in NYC. He has subbed for The Great Gatsby on Broadway and The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. Internationally, Christopher was the percussionist for the The Sound of Music Global Tour. He has served as the percussionist for a number of Off-Broadway shows, including Frankenstein, Here There Be Dragons - A New Musical Quest, A Christmas Carol, Beauty and The Beast (Sgouros and Bell), Sleepy Hollow and others. On television, Christopher played marimba for NFL Countdown’s tribute to Phil Collins on ESPN with the NYU Percussion Ensemble. Christopher has also served as the orchestrator and percussionist for the Off-Broadway musical comedy After Happily Ever After, and has rehearsed/performed with other major ensembles such as The New York Pops, New Haven Chorale, and Chelsea Symphony. He also appears on the Off-Broadway cast album for After Happily Ever After. Christopher is an endorsement artist for Innovative Percussion.
Join us Tuesday, April 28th at 7pm for the New York Percussion Series featuring Percussion People. The group will be joined by Saturday Night Live percussionist Valerie Naranjo. This all-percussion evening will feature a collection of percussion instruments from around the globe highlighted by the West African xylophone (gyil).
New York Percussion Series